World premiere
If Willy Wonka ever made a ballet, we're guessing it would look something like this. American Ballet Theatre's Artists in Residence Alexei Ratmansky has joined forces with pop artist Mark Ryden to create Whipped Cream, a surreal and candy-coated journey into a fantastical dreamland populated by living cakes and chocolates. The story is centered on a young boy who begins to hallucinate after getting rather too carried away in a Vienesse pastry shop.
Based on Richard Strauss' ballet Schlagobers, which debuted in Vienna in 1924, Whipped Cream will hold its US premiere in Costa Mesa before heading off to New York.
Ratmansky & Ryden
One of the art-form's true modern greats, Alexei Ratmansky has been American Ballet Theatre's Artist in Residence since 2008, following his directorship of the Bolshoi Ballet. During his tenure at the ATB, he has choreographed On the Dnieper, Seven Sonatas, and reconstructed Petipa's Sleeping Beauty. Known as one of the founding fathers of pop surrealism, Ryden unmistakable style blends kitschy ephemera, such as big-eyed baby dolls, religious imagery and Dali-esque melting landscapes.
